"...the hills of western Maine,.....where the subtle matters and the spectacular distracts."Bernd Heinrich in A Year in the Maine Woods

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What's all the Buzz About?

For the past two winters, a notice in the paper has caught my eye advertising a 12-week course in backyard beekeeping offered at one of the local schools. It has intrigued me each year, but twelve weeks seemed like a major commitment and do I really want to keep bees? Well, this year I decided to check it out and yes, maybe I will keep bees.

What really surprised me was the number of people filling the school cafeteria--there were at least fifty other people there wanting to spend the next twelve Wednesday evenings learning about bee keeping. The folks in the class have all sorts of different motivations Some had kept bees before but want to learn more about it, some are gardeners or farmers and want the bees for pollination, some want to start a honey or wax business, one couple makes goat milk soap and uses honey as an ingredient--some (like me) just love nature and want to learn more about the fascinating work of bees.

That sounds like it would be fun. If all those people join they will probably need two classes!! If you dod decide to do it, I hope you can blog a little about it, I know nothing about bee keeping, but it always looked so intruging to me.

There has been such a bee crisis in North America. I wonder if they are encouraging more people to be aware and involved in an important environmental issue. My uncle used to rent hives for his apple orchard in the spring for pollination.

Good for you Beth on at least two counts. First and most importantly(I think) you will be learning how to help the bees. I'm sure you know there is a major problem with the decline of the bee population world wide.

Secondly, you are doing something just for you. I so believe in that! Keep us informed.

Your Uncle Merkle was a bee man. I'm hoping you do well with this venture. I love honey. Did you try any of the exotic jellies on cream cheese during the holidays? Let me know. I got some for myself but haven't opened it yet. I still have a few jars of Barbara's homemade variety to finish off. Pappy

Well, this should keep you busy and interested during the long cold winter. Perhaps by the time you are done, the beavers will be above water again! I hear its very cold there right now. Are you getting many birds at your feeders? I would often get siskins and redpolls during the winter.

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